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Audio Recording "Grandmother, I want one of your quilts."

"Grandmother, I want one of your quilts."

About this Item

Title

  • "Grandmother, I want one of your quilts."

Names

  • Johnson, Geraldine Niva, 1940- (Interviewer)
  • Choate, Donna. (Interviewee)
  • Choate, Donna. (Creator)

Created / Published

  • Sparta, North Carolina

Headings

  • -  Gifts
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  Interviews
  • -  United States -- North Carolina -- Sparta

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Interviews

Notes

  • -  Donna Choate is an African-American woman who learned to quilt from her mother who was taught to piece quilts by the white family who raised her. Although at the time of the interview Mrs. Choate had not made quilts for several years, she describes the process, both as her mother practiced it and as she had done it herself. Mrs. Choate had made both utility and fancy quilts, for the use of her family, not for sale.
  • -  Transcription: DC: So, now the reason I don't have more, I'll give my children my children, I just have the one daughter I gave her quilts, and the grandchildren want, "Grandmother, I want a quilt, one of your quilts." Well, I give them one. So, I, my quilts are down. And I'm not planning to make any more. I tell Sabe, I said I'm not going to make any more quilts. If we die when we ought to, I've got enough to take care of us. [laughter] But I say people don't use, don't have to have as many as they used to. They had, their houses were not warm, and it took a lot of cover. And now, everybody's got furnace heat, or some kind, steam, some kind of heat. And about a couple of these quilts or maybe one this quilt, a blanket, and a sheet I use a sheet because I don't want to get the lining soiled. You can't they'll wash, but this cotton will wad up in there when they get wet. So I don't want to get my quilts dirty. So I sleep next to a sheet, then a blanket on top of it, and then the quilt. And that way my quilts won't get old and dirty looking. / GJ: You said you've given a lot of them to your family. Do you ever sell any? / DC: No. No, I've never sold a quilt. I've just give 'em to the children. I've got three grown granddaughters. Is that right? No. I just have one daughter. And she has three daughters and a son. She's got four, four children. And I gave them quilts. And I don't want the great-grandchildren I think I've got five great-grandchildren and I don't want them come asking grandma "I want a quilt." [laughter] Grandma's past the age for making 'em.
  • -  For rights information please contact the Folklife Reading Room at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/folklife.contact

Medium

  • Sound tape reel : 7 in.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • AFC 1982/009: BR8-GJ-R94

Source Collection

  • Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project Collection (AFC 1982/009)

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Online Format

  • audio

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that some of the materials in this collection are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions, and are therefore free to use and reuse. For example, the fieldwork in this collection is in the public domain in the United States.

However, the Library has obtained permission for the use of other materials, and presents additional materials for educational and research purposes in accordance with fair use under United States copyright law. For example, some of the recordings contain copyrighted music, and not all of the performers and other individuals who were recorded signed releases for public use of their work.

In addition, the American Folklife Center and the professional fieldworkers who carry out these projects feel a strong ethical responsibility to the people they have visited and who have consented to have their lives documented for the historical record. The Center asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here. Researchers are also reminded that privacy and publicity rights may pertain to certain uses of this material.

Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these collection materials should contact the Folklife Reading Room for assistance. Rights assessment is your responsibility. The written permission of the copyright owners in materials not in the public domain is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. Permissions may additionally be required from holders of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights). Whenever possible, we provide information that we have about copyright owners and related matters in the catalog records, finding aids and other texts that accompany collections. 

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Credit line: Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project collection (AFC 1982/009), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Johnson, Geraldine Niva, Donna Choate, and Donna Choate. "Grandmother, I want one of your quilts.". Sparta, North Carolina, 1978. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/qlt000039/.

APA citation style:

Johnson, G. N., Choate, D. & Choate, D. (1978) "Grandmother, I want one of your quilts.". Sparta, North Carolina. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/qlt000039/.

MLA citation style:

Johnson, Geraldine Niva, Donna Choate, and Donna Choate. "Grandmother, I want one of your quilts.". Sparta, North Carolina, 1978. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/qlt000039/>.